Chapter 12: Recovery

He was too tired to fight him at the moment, though. So, he shrugged his shoulders and took a breath, "Jason Cunningham." He ran his hands through his hair but his bangs just fell back into their regular place when he tilted his head forward again. Fumiya quickly ran over the possible names he could give the boy when he realized that he was now waiting for him to give his name.

"Erm…my name is…Kazuhiro Rion." Jason folded his arms over his chest, tilting his head to the side until it was almost resting on his shoulder.

"Kazuhiro Rion." He repeated, being careful to pronounce the name properly. "I hope that you're not expecting anything from me because I can't give you anything."

"I wouldn't dream of asking anything of you, Jason." Jason drew his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and resting his chin on his knees. "You seem to carry a great burden, do you care to talk about it, I am a priest. I am here to help God's children with their problems."

"I don't believe in God." Jason replied scathingly. "I cannot believe in someone who is never there when it matters most." Fumiya looked at Jason now, even though he was asked not to. He was sort of glad he did, he doubted he would get to see Jason this vulnerable ever again.

The teen did not like being seen so weak, especially not around a complete stranger. He laughed at himself and glanced at the man, looking away when his eyes locked with Fumiya's, "So, priest, how old are you?"

This caught Fumiya off guard, to say the least. He definitely was not expecting such a question from the teen. He was technically thousands of years old but his physical appearance, like most other angels, was that of someone very young. He really was not sure what to say, being too young would not be likely for a priest but being too old would probably make Jason shy away from him and he did not want that. So, he blurted out the first, most likely age that came to mind. "T-twenty-one. I'm…twenty-one."

Jason nodded but he found that his movements were growing more sluggish and, not for the first time that day, he found himself tired. He made it a habit not to go to sleep when people were around him, he hated it when people saw him sleeping, it was when he was most vulnerable. He was not about to go to sleep--again--with this man still around. The man had already tried to touch him when he regained consciousness, there was no telling what else he would try to do to him while he slept. There was also the unnerving feeling he got whenever he looked into the man's eyes, as if he knew more about him than he chose to let on.

As if sensing the teen's exhaustion, Fumiya stood up, smoothing out his robes and turning to face him again. He bowed to Jason and smiled at him as he removed his glasses and slipped it into his pocket. "I believe I should leave to let you get some rest. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask. Few people come here so there is not much for me to do aside from looking after the church."

"I'm leaving as soon as I heal." Fumiya felt a pang in his heart but he hide it with a false smile. He did not want to show Jason how much his words had hurt him. He really wanted to take care of the teen, though he knew he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Somehow that thought reminded him of something, something important to him.

"You're welcome to stay for as long as you wish. This church is always open to those who need it." Jason shifted grudgingly, making sure that he did not look at the priest.

"I don't want your handouts." Fumiya bowed his head. He should have known he would be hoping for too much by offering Jason the room. At least he would be able to be close to him while he healed, maybe he could somehow even change his mind while he was still here.

He kept his smile as he backed towards the door, "Well, the offer is always open. Good night, Jason." He opened the door and closed it gently behind him. Fumiya dropped his mask and slide down the door, holding his hand to his heart. 'That was harder than I thought it would be. I think it would have been easier for me if he had yelled…'

He pushed himself off the ground and walked down the hall towards an empty room. Instead of bare walls like the room he had put Jason in, this room's walls were covered by full-length mirrors. In the center was an altar with a single blood red candle set upon it. He had promised himself that he would banish all contact with Heaven and the angels there but he needed to know what was happening and given the current situation, Jason was not about to tell him what was going on.

He walked over to the altar and passed his hand over the wick of the candle, a flame jumping to life as he dropped his arm back to his side. "Archangel Michael, I call you before me now." He held his hand out as he looked at his reflection in the mirror across from him. "Cross down to Earth from the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Who summons me from the Heavens?" A strong voice echoed around him and Fumiya bowed his head respectfully.

"It is I, mentor, Fumiya." He returned to his true form, his jet-black locks swirling around his head before falling to the middle of his back. A storm of black feathers gathered at his feet, hiding the floor from view.

The feathers moved across the floor, slowly turning from black to white, returning to their purest form. The feathers lifted up, creating a tall oval in front of him. They fell away and before him stood a handsome Angel in the garb of a warrior, rather than flowing robes as most Angels wore. When he first appeared, his head was bowed and his eyes closed but he lifted his hand and opened his eyes as the last feather fell away from his body.

"Michael…" breathed Fumiya, fighting the urge to get on his knees to be more respectful to the archangel in front of him. He looked at Fumiya with indifference, his sea-foam green eyes showing no hint of emotion.

"You know the rules, Fumiya. I certainly do hope that for whatever reason I was summoned, it was a very important one." The fallen angel nodded, hesitantly looking into his old mentor's eyes. Michael walked around the altar and stood a few feet from Fumiya. "I hear that you have fallen, Fumiya. I suppose that it was only a matter of time before it happened. I have been watching this Jason Cunningham ever since he was selected by Raefel for the Judgment Project. He is definitely not someone I would have chosen for such an important assignment, but he is just what Raefel was looking for when he took control of the Judgment Project."

"Couldn't you have done something about it, Michael?"

"I am not one to interfere, unlike yourself. I am fine with doing what my superiors ask of me to do. Besides, at least this way I will get to do something more than just sit around in Heaven listening to Gabriel and Uriel make nice." Neither of them smiled, merely staring at each other. "All right, Fumiya, what did you want to ask me?"

"What is going on in Heaven now? With the Judgment Project?" Michael leaned back and shook his head slowly.

"I can't tell you that, Fumiya. You tried to help Jason out and then you fell. You have nothing to do with this anymore--"

"Jason is here! I'm taking care of him, Michael! I'm involved with this even if you guys don't like it!" The archangel watched him for a moment, waiting patiently until his breathing returned to normal.

"Yes…well…" He reached out and placed a hand on Fumiya's shoulder. "There is only so much that I can tell you, Fumiya, without angering people. I do want to help you, young one, though you have fallen, your faith in God still remains. Let us move to somewhere more comfortable, Fumiya, I know that you have learned better than to leave your guest standing."

With his expressionless face, Fumiya was not sure if he was joking or not, and there was no emotion in his voice to tell him what he really wanted so he would have to take it at face value. He nodded and Michael turned away from him, curving his hand behind the flame and blowing it out.

The priest led him out of the room and back down the hall where he left Jason. He paused in front of the door and Michael glanced at it before motioning to Fumiya to continue. "I cannot stay for long, Fumiya. I will be missed by the other Angels if I linger in the mortal world for too long."

"Yes, please follow me then." They entered the common room and Michael sat down in one of the armchairs. Fumiya sat on the couch, tapping his heel on the ground nervously. The archangel watched him patiently, waiting for him to say the first word.

After five minutes passed, Fumiya cleared his throat but his mentor did not even bat an eye or shift from his current position, unnerving the young priest further. "M-master, I wish to know why Seraph Raefel chose Jason for the Judgment Project, and my the Lord allowed such a thing to go unchanged."

Michael lifted his arm and leaned his elbow on the arm of the chair, dropping his head in the palm of his hand. "I am no longer your teacher, Fumiya, so you can refrain from using such titles with me. As for Jason, there are things about him that even I do not know. His aura is not that of a normal mortal and his file, as you well know, is nearly as long as your own."

"I know all of that already, Ma…" He caught himself before he finished, "Michael. The Judgment Project now, what is happening? Jason has not died yet so I can assume that he did not sacrifice himself for the sins of man." The archangel closed his eyes, nodding slightly.

"Yes, you are correct in your assumptions." He opened his eyes again, watching the young man sitting across from him. "However, Metratron interfered. He did not believe that any of us were ready for Judgment Day, so he found a way to push it back."

"Metratron?" asked Fumiya breathlessly, "Was it that serious that he had to become involved?" Michael nodded his head again.

"Even Raefel would not dare to fight Metratron on something like this. The damage of Jason's decision has already been done, however, so something drastic must be done to restore balance." The priest was not so sure that he liked the sound of that. Michael could sense his trepidation but he was never one to lie to another person, especially not one of his students. "Jason must search for seven people, people who have been given the seven sins of man. He must kill the people when he finds them and collect the feathers they leave behind."

"Seven…You, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel, and Zedkiel…" He shook his head, "The seven holy Angels. Why would Metratron want Jason to kill people? That does not seem like a very fair trade-off in his perspective."

"Would you rather Lafaret killed the boy you have fallen for?" Fumiya looked away, gripping the edges of the couch tightly, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. "You are letting your emotions cloud your judgment, Fumiya. This is not what I taught you. You are no longer my disciple but I had at least hoped you would make use of what I conveyed to you."

Fumiya stood up quickly and Michael shook his head gently, "You just proved my point, young one. I do not understand your feelings for this mortal child but there is nothing I can do about it, not that it is my place to interfere."

"It never is." He said it almost bitterly but Michael took no mind. He pursed his lips for lack of anything better to do, shifted uncomfortably under Michael's unrelenting gaze and cleared his throat, "If he allows me, can I help Jason?"

"You can do whatever you want, Fumiya. Even if the boy were not to ask for your help--and I am not suggesting this--you can assist him in anyway you see fit. Kill the people if you have to, if you are up to that." Fumiya stared down at his hands.

"My teachings forbid…"

"You are no longer an Angel, Fumiya, you are bound by nothing but your own limitations. You can do whatever you wish now, young one. The rules of Heaven that you once lived by, that once haunted your every waking moment, they are gone now. You can do whatever you want, and that means exactly what it sounds like." Fumiya could only sit there as he lowered his hands back to his sides and looked at his old mentor. He had never expected Michael to speak in such a manner, especially about Heaven, almost as if he had regrets of his own.

Michael smiled softly, the motion not reaching his eyes, "Do not get me wrong, young one, I know what you are thinking and the answer is no and it will still be no for as long as I can help it. I will never have any regrets about what I am, what I stand for. I live not for myself and I am fine with that, I was not created to live for myself, merely to serve my Lord."

Fumiya glared down at the floor. Hearing someone say it changed things more than he would have thought. Michael was a very prideful person and he never bowed down to anyone other than God or Metratron. "Michael…"

"I understand now. This is confusing for you, isn't it? Nothing has ever come easily to you, Fumiya. I think that was what drew me to you in the first place. As you know, I never took on a disciple before you and I probably never will take on another disciple, after all the trouble you caused me." The priest could not suppress the smile that snuck up on him when he remembered when he was still young and naïve, though, he had not grown up all that much since then.

"Michael, there has been something that has always bothered me." The archangel nodded for him to continue, "My files…most of them are restricted to me. I thought that I would have unlimited access to them at all times, but I can only review the ones of the more recent years. If anyone would know about it, it would be you."

"I do know but I cannot tell you, Fumiya." He leaned forward and said in a soft whisper that the priest almost missed, "He is still being punished."

"…Michael?" Michael rose to his feet and Fumiya went to follow him but he held up a hand to still him.

"I have said far too much. I do not want any harm to come to you, Fumiya. That is…as your old mentor, I do not want any harm to come of my only student. I am not sure what that says about me, now that you have fallen…"

"Are you ashamed?"

"Even if I was, you would never know." He laid a hand on top of Fumiya's head, "If I were ever to fall, I wish I could fall for the same reason you have. If you truly do love the boy, I can only be proud of you. There was a reason I decided to pass my knowledge onto you, Fumiya. I could sense your potential, your passion for life. You managed to be faithful to God and yourself at the same time…even now."

"I just did what I felt was right. There was something about Jason that drew me to him and before I knew what I was doing…" The comforting, fatherly hand on his head slipped away as Michael stepped back from him.

"You are going to do just fine, Fumiya. Never doubt yourself and do not let Jason stray too far from you, as long as he is in your light, he will be protected. He is in more danger now, not like when he was in the Room of Memories. It is not going to be easy, Raefel will make sure of that. Metratron has done all that he can to help but keep in mind that he did not do it for Jason." The priest nodded, leaning back against the seat of the couch.

"I know." Michael inclined his head slightly.

"If that is all…I bid you farewell." He disappeared leaving Fumiya alone.

The priest turned so that he was lying down sideways on the couch, his legs propped up on the arm of the couch. He rested his head on his arm, curling his elbow so that his hand was pressed against his back. Speaking with Michael did not really help clear up any of his questions, merely adding more to them, though, he now knew what was going on with the Judgment Project.

The seven sins of man…

Fumiya raised his free hand to his neck and drew out the golden chain that hung around his neck, dangling from the thin, delicate chain was a beautiful golden cross, intricate little designs carved into it by a careful hand. Mildly he wondered if it was blasphemy to wear a cross after having fallen. He still had his faith but he did not feel as if he was one of God's holy Angels anymore. He lay the crucifix on his chest and closed his hand over it, letting his eyes shut slowly.

Sleep would not come to him, as much as he tried to clear his mind of all thoughts, they still plagued him. He sat up and shook out his right arm, the odd angle at which he had been lying on it and caused his arm to grow numb. 'At least something can fall asleep,' He thought bitterly, throwing his legs over the side of the couch and placing them on the floor.

As he stood up and turned to leave the room, he half-expected someone to be in the middle of the doorway but no one was there, only an empty doorway that led into an empty hallway. He shook his head and walked through the doorway, glancing around him before he closed the doors to the common room. Hesitantly, he made his way over to the room where Jason was sleeping and he placed his hand on the door, letting his palm slide down to the doorknob.

"Jason…" From the other side of the door, he heard Jason moving around, the covers rustling with each shift he made. He almost opened the door but thought better of it, not wanting to invade the boy's privacy more than he already had. He pressed his ear to the door, listening carefully.

Jason flopped back onto the bed. He was having trouble sleeping, maybe because his mind was cluttered with thoughts of what he would have to do in the following weeks. He only had three weeks to find these "seven sins" and get them to Lafaret and the other angels or else he would have to relive his childhood for the rest of eternity. "Dammit…" He hissed, tightly gripping folds of the blanket in his fists. He knew he had no other choice but to do what they asked for him. Reliving his past once was enough to last him a lifetime.

"Fumiya…" He touched his hands to his lips, his cheeks growing warm when he thought of the man who had tried to save him. He wanted to know why he had been sitting in that field with Fumiya in that one memory, it did not make sense, unless they were trying to mess with his mind.

His life had certainly taken an unexpected turn. If someone had told him earlier that this would happen to him, he would have cursed them out, punched them in the face and walked off. It was the usual way he handled his problems, if you could call that handling things. It did get him into more trouble but he was never one to talk things over, which took too much time and usually gave him a headache. Besides, there were just some people you could not talk to.

He pulled the covers up around him and closed his eyes. He had to try to get some sleep. The sooner he was rested, the sooner he could leave. Being in a church, so close to the thing that he hated most was unsettling. He just wanted to get out of there as quickly as he could. He tightened his grip on the sheets. There was also something about the priest that bothered him. He had never been around a priest before but even so, the man did not act as he thought a priest should.

In the end, regardless of what Lafaret and the others had tried to accomplish by forcing him to relive his family's deaths, he was still the same person. The boy who never trusted anyone, never really cared about anyone because of how he saw people. He wanted to believe that, even if Fumiya somehow changed his feelings about actually allowing himself to care for people. There was just something different about Fumiya that made everything he thought he hated shatter away to nothingness.

He heard the door open and he stiffened slightly. Light steps echoed in the room as the person walked towards him slowly. He thought it was the priest coming into check on him so he was ready to jump up if he had to. However, the cool hand gently caressing his cheek made all thought leave him. He snapped his eyes open and went to sit up but a strong hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing so. Still thinking it was the priest, he turned to tell him to stop but his voice failed him when he saw whom it was.

Fumiya stood there, leaning over him, his hair falling from his shoulders and hanging inches away from Jason. "Fumiya…?" The fallen angel smiled at him, pulling away from him, dropping his hands to his sides.

"Hey, kid." Fumiya sat down on the edge of the bed and Jason tried to sit up but once again, Fumiya stopped him. "You should try to conserve your energy." He turned away from him, almost guiltily, "I was told what you must do, and it is not going to be easy, especially given the time limit that Raefel assigned. Now, there may not be much I can do for you…"

"What do you mean?" He noticed the black outfit that he was wearing. "Did something happen? Is it…because you tried to help me?" Fumiya smiled at the concern in the boy's voice.

"It is no fault of your own, Jason. I helped you because I wanted to do it, you never once asked for my assistance." His words reminded Jason of Lafaret's test and he cheeks warmed. Fumiya missed it though, his eyes now trained on the floor in front of him. "I turned my back on Heaven because none of them would have agreed with my feelings. I would have been cast from Heaven when Lafaret informed the elders of my blasphemy." He turned and smiled at Jason, "I would rather fall than have my wings torn from my body."

Jason found himself staring at Fumiya's back. The fallen angel reached behind him and ran his fingers over his shoulder blade. "I think I like my tainted wings more. At least now they match the hatred you feel for Heaven."

"I hope that it was something important." Jason muttered under his breath. Fumiya caught his words easily, though. He smiled and laughed to himself.

"Very important. I never do anything without reason. Be it selfish or for other reasons, though, when I think about it, I really do not like doing things for people who have not earned my help. Before you say anything, I want to tell you that you are an exception to those rules. My reasons for helping you are purely selfish and I need no thanks for what I do for you." He looked at Jason again, leaning towards him, "There will not be much I can do for you from now on, Jason. I have faith in you; I know you will be able to do this on your own. Never let them get to you."

Fumiya leaned closer, his lips inches away from Jason's, his eyes almost shut. Jason's mind went blank, though he should have been used to that by name, his mind usually went blank when Fumiya was around. The fallen angel hovered there, not sure what he was doing. "Please take care of yourself, Jason…if anything were to happen to you…" Fumiya pulled away from the teen before he could press his lips to Jason's.

He stood up and walked over to the door, touching his hand to the doorknob. "There is still enough time for you to rest without worrying about the sins for now. It really is not fair of them to force you to do this, but in the end, none of us have a choice." He smiled at Jason gently, "Try to stay out of trouble, Jason. I will be watching over you. Farewell."

"Fumiya, wait--" The door closed behind the fallen angel before Jason could finish his sentence. He was not sure what he should do now, though he was aware of the fact that he was in no condition to leave the church and run around on missions for Lafaret. He did not like the idea of doing something that psychopath but, as Fumiya had said, he really did not have a choice.

"This…really sucks." He threw his arm over his eyes and tried to sleep once again. This time, sleep came to him.